There and Back Again

Photos: Tasmania 7 2019 North East

johnsteel — Thu, 2 Jan 2020 18:13:00 GMT

Tasmania 7 2019 North East Corner

johnsteel — Mon, 30 Dec 2019 12:27:00 GMT

Tasmania 7 – December 2019 - The North East

Our first visit to Tasmania was in 2007, this is now our 7^th visit – had it changed?

Overall not really.

More visitors from China, Japan and SE Asia.
Just as much road kill
Log trucks and semis still ‘pushy’. Pulling over when safe is the way to go.
Friendly, quirky, helpful locals.
Abundance of local great seafood.

Our route started in Launceston, and over 13 days we spent time in Lilydale, St Helens, Binalong Bay, Bicheno and ended in Launceston.

What did we discover this time?

Lilydale:

The Little Barn, our accommodation set in an old apple orchard. A beautiful cottage garden encouraged lots of bees, butterflies and many birds.
After a very quiet 30 minute wait we saw the local Platypus, twice.
Bridestowe Lavender Farm caters for busloads of tourists, a busy shop and delicious lavender ice cream. $10 entry.

Derby

An old tin mining town with an informative museum. Find out about the 1929 flood when a wall of water surged through the town killing 14 people.
However now taken over by mountain bike riders. Apparently a world class network of tracks.
It’s also meant locals have sold up and moved out.

Pyengana

Taste a range of cheddar cheeses at the Cheese Factory.
Pub in the Paddock looks the same but minus the evening meals. Stopover for a beer and decent pub food for lunch.

Blue Tiers

Lots of walks in this area. Goblin Walk is short with signposts on local mining history. The Australian Rim circuit is longer and over rocks.
We met a family of 4 who are spending a year touring Australia with their 2 daughters.

St Helens

Located on Georges Bay is the centre for fishing industry and oysters.
Friendly helpful locals including the woman in the newsagency who not only provided Xmas wrapping paper but then wrapped and decorated our gift ready to send to NZ. The woman on the street stall selling her brother’s excellent raspberry jam.
We recommend the following for good food: Nina’s restaurant, Bay Bar and Bistro (Seniors get a discount), Lifebuoy and Quail St Emporium for day long good coffee and food.

Binalong Bay and Bay of Fires

Crystal clear aquamarine water, long white beaches and the lichen covered red rocks.
Humbug Point Conservation area. Easy walking following the coast from Skeleton Bay to Dora Point. She oaks whisper in the wind, birds singing, small beaches to explore and perhaps find the metre long tiger snake we saw.
Meresta restaurant – the only shop in town for innovative food.
Oysters at Lease 65
The Gardens area named by Lady Jane Franklin for the scenery and wildflowers.

Bicheno

Another friendly coastal town with glorious long white beaches and swimming in very cold water. Ask Peter about that!
Our Beach Bungalow nestled at the foot of a sand dune and a short walk to beautiful Denison Beach.
Meeting Binny our wonderful host – artist (paints on silk), cook and gardener extraordinaire. http://earthlandsea.com.au/art-gallery/
In town fantastic seafood at Sea Life Centre (we recommend the spicy seafood chowder) and the Lobster Shack is owned by a local fisher family and overlooking the fishing boat harbour.
Douglas Apsley National Park has an easy walk to the waterhole and a longer uphill walk to the Gorge.

St Marys en route to Launceston

Spend an hour or so here to meet Rita at Gone Rustic. A gallery with her sewing creations and local artists’ work. https://gonerustic.com/
Ian (Rita’s husband) at Cranks and Tinkerers – a Museum of Interesting Things. He’ll entertain you with his stories and playing of banjos, phonographs and old organ. https://www.examiner.com.au/story/5647224/st-marys-cranks-and-tinkerers-museum-is-home-to-one-mans-treasure/
Purple Possum Café and Wholefoods Store https://purplepossum.com.au/ for a range of excellent food, coffee, eco products and organic bulk foods.
Historic old pub, vintage shops.

Launceston

Silo Peppers hotel – a fabulous restoration of 4 old silos into an extraordinary hotel complete with Archie the resident dog. The staff were friendly and always on hand to help. https://www.peppers.com.au/silo/
Riverbend Park – an old industrial site turned into a huge playground with 4 zones for all ages. Loved the water play area. Recently opened and very popular. https://ultimateplay.com.au/riverbend-park-opening-launceston-tasmania/.
The footbridge from Invermay side to Seaport is easy access to the city.
Design Tasmania for beautifully designed local timber objects https://shop.designtasmania.com.au/
The following are still going and worth a visit – CWA shop for handmade goodies; AllGoods https://allgoods.com.au/ for all you need & Peter’s favourite shop; St John Craft Beer http://saintjohncraftbeer.com.au/
Stillwater Restaurant finally got here to have excellent food and friendly “down to earth” service. https://www.stillwater.com.au/menus/
And final thanks to the doctor at Civic Square surgery who helped Peter with his meds.

Photos: Amsterdam to London 2018

johnsteel — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 11:32:00 GMT

What More Could You Want

What More Could You Want?

johnsteel — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 14:19:00 GMT

2018 Trip – Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Edinburgh, Cambridge, London.

A journey with themes – tolerance, walks, art, history, recovery, and of course food and beer.

Amsterdam:

Over 30 years later we return to Amsterdam to find some changes but it still retains an easy going feeling, progressive and tolerant. We stayed in De Pijp, a short tram ride from the busy, touristy centre. We felt part of the local community and it was still easy to get around. We enjoyed watching people of all ages riding their bikes everywhere, no helmets, safely.

Guided walks became a must do in each city. The first was in Amsterdam with Freedam Walks https://freedamtours.com/ where the wonderful Loeke educated and entertained us for 4 hours. The theme was tolerance – from prostitutes, marijuana, Jews (escaping persecution in Spain) to religion (although Catholicism was banned it was tolerated). Famous places, people and occupation during WW 2. To cap off our walk, we arrived at Dam Square and then almost got ourselves tangled in a melee between football hooligans (all males), very loud and violent. An eye opener to this dark side in the European community.

In the Rijk Museum we joined a guided group and learnt to appreciate the wonder of Rembrandt. An explanation of The Nightwatch (who is pointing the gun and why); The Jewish Bride (full of colour and detail) his self-portrait (tousled hair covering his eyes), The Wardens of Amsterdam (who has just walked in the room?). We also loved seeing Vermeer’s exquisite Milkmaid and Woman Reading a Letter. We had a great meal and wine in the Café in the museum.

On a rainy day we spent a few hours in the Dutch Resistance Museum, lots to see and read but essential to get an appreciation of this terrible time.

We went into lots of cheese shops and tried the famous Gouda and Edam cheeses, finally buying an aged Gouda which travelled with us for a few days.

Berlin

We travelled everywhere by train, fairly easy and cheap without the hassles of air travel and opportunities to talk to locals.

Ah Berlin - history, East and West, Nazis, edgy, grungy, vibrant, magnificent, multicultural, gentrificating, beer, street art – what more could you want?

We stayed in the Almodovar Eco Hotel in Friedfrichsheim (old East Berlin), now becoming gentrified but with enough grunge and street art to keep it real.

2 guided walks here, https://www.insidertour.com/ the first the Famous Insider Walk to become orientated and discover what’s where. Taylor, an Aussie started with an 800 year history of Berlin in 8 minutes! Another 4 hour walk include many famous sites such as Museum Island (3 famous museums); Unter den Linden Boulevard; Brandenburg Gate, Gendarmenmarkt Square and the memorial to the burning of books; The war memorial site Neue Wache ( a sculpture of a mother holding her dead son). We returned to the Pergamon Museum to see the Ishtar Gate and the Neue Museum to see Nefertiti’s Head.

The second walk – Berlin Today with Nickolai, who took us to 4 different neighbourhoods looking at immigration & assimilation; alternative culture; gentrification and corporate culture. We saw lots of funky street art; Turkish area of Kreuzberg and finishing at the Turkish market (an extensive market with all you need including delicious food).

We took ourselves off to the Stasi Museum (eerie and entertaining); the very Soviet War Memorial to in Treptower Park. The Holocaust Memorial where you walk among 2,711 grey concrete slabs or stelae of varying heights is a quiet place for reflection.

Dresden

Many European cities were bombed during WW2, Dresden is certainly one of the most famous and controversial. Kurt Vonnegut’s famous book Slaughterhouse 5 is a fictionalised personal record of the event. I’d always wanted to see how the city was rebuilt. So off on another walk with https://www.dresdenwalks.com to discover the layout and points of interest. The buildings are impressive, they look as if they’ve always been there. Our favourites include Frauenkirche - a Lutheran Baroque church was built in 18^th century, destroyed by the bombing in 1945 and not rebuilt until 2005. It is set in a square, with a statue of Martin Luther in front, it’s definitely worth a visit inside, true Baroque, full of light with a high cupola, and a richly decorated alter. Be there when the bells ring.

The Furstenzug, (the Procession of Princes) is a remarkable 102 metre long mural made of Meissen porcelain tiles. Undamaged by the bombing because the tiles are fired at a very high temperature.

The impressive Zwinger Palace, styled on Versailles (perhaps more beautiful) and used to celebrate a marriage in 1719.

The huge almost overpowering buildings are lightened by lots of excellent living statue buskers and musicians who pop up on corners or in the square.

We recommend 2 places to eat Sankt Pauli, a friendly small local pub with a great menu and Raskolnikoff, http://www.raskolnikoff.de/ a Russian restaurant with yummy dumplings.

Someone told us to visit the Bundeswehr Museum of Military, http://www.dresden.de/en/advertisment/museum_of_military_history.php while it is a history of German warfare it seeks to challenge traditional perspectives. The entrance hall consists of warlike paintings all by women artists. We were moved and challenged by this outstanding museum.

Prague

Bisected by the Vltava River and crossed by many bridges is a busy touristy city. We stayed in the “new” town near Kinsky Park, trams provided easy and quick access to the “old” town and elsewhere. There are loads of guided walks in Prague, we did the Old Town and Jewish Quarter walk, again good for a potted history, main sites and other useful information.

A tram ride took us to the picturesque Strahov Monastery Brewery for a good meal and great beer.

The small Farmers’ market in Republic Square http://farmarsketrhyprahy1.cz/?language=en (Mon to Fri only) has good arts and crafts and wonderful food stalls and more beer.

The Museum of Communism is informative and well done, doesn’t take too long, lots of exhibits and audio visuals. A real eye opener as to conditions in Czechoslovakia from 1948 -1989.

A must do is walking the Charles Bridge, didn’t see any of the infamous pickpockets but I’m sure they were there. It’s crazily busy and chaotic.

We loved spotting the David Cerny sculptures scattered around the city, my favourite was the babies.

Edinburgh

The old part of Edinburgh certainly has a special feel in spite of the hordes of tourists. The grey ancient buildings, the castle situated atop a rocky volcanic hill, the winding cobbled streets and old passageways, church spires stretching to the sky. From here there are views to the coast and rolling green hills. The ‘new’ city also has beautiful Georgian buildings and many museums to visit.

David, another Australian, took us on our first guided walk along the Royal mile, a visit to the Greyfriar’s church and Bobby, the Grassmarket where hangings used to take place. There were many mentions of J.K.Rowling, it’s easy to see how Edinburgh influenced her writing.

The second walk with Scottish Greg took us into the castle, dating from 12^th century there’s lots to explore including the tiny simple St Margaret’s chapel built about 1130; dungeons; crown jewels; Scottish war memorial.

We walked along the beautiful, tree lined Leith Waterway and also had a fabulous lunch at Michelin starred Martin Wishart Restaurant.

The Scottish Portrait Gallery included lots of famous people, great to explore on a cold wet day.

Cambridge/Stoke Newington/London

Meeting up with Anika and Ian gave us the perfect excuse to spend time in Cambridge. We got to see how they live in this famous city. We rode bikes along the ‘backs’ past grazing cows; lazily punted along the Cam with perfect views of the old colleges, took part in the magic of Evensong in King’s College, drank many beers in famous pubs and of course some wonderful food.

We had fun exploring Stoke Newington (Stokey), with a village atmosphere it has a variety of excellent restaurants/cafes, the huge Clissold Park, the wilderness of Abney Park Cemetery, a non-denominational burial ground, William Booth, Isaac Watts and many anti-slavery people are buried here. Amy Winehouse filmed Back in Black in Abney Park https://www.harringayonline.com/forum/topics/amy-winehouse-back-to-black-video-filmed-in-abney-park-stoke.

The street has lots of alternative independent shops – vintage, clothing, homewares and more.

We stayed in the Rose and Crown pub – excellent accommodation and handy for beer and meals.

This time we kept out of main London area and instead took it easy in Islington area– markets, pubs, canals, De Beauvoir Cafe; reacquainting ourselves with wonderful Dalston markets and lunches at Brunswick East café. What more could you want?

New Zealand/Aotearoa 'The Land of the Long White Cloud'

johnsteel — Mon, 1 May 2017 17:25:00 GMT

We spent 3 weeks in NZ with Gaye and Bob Simpson mainly exploring the South Island. We experienced splendid unseasonable NZ weather. Little use for those thermals and fleeces.

Stunning landscapes, the freshest and best seafood and friendly locals resulted in a great holiday.

Christchurch

The Botanic Gardens and the old trams give a visitor a glimpse of what the city was like before the earthquake. There is evidence of lots of rebuilding happening and it is heartening to see how the community is working to overcome the destruction in the wake of the earthquake.

A great example is the Re:Start Mall where the shops are in shipping containers

The 185 white chairs arranged in an empty piece of land are a poignant symbol of the lives lost.

There is great coffee from the food van near the damaged cathedral - 'Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo'

Kaikoura

The lifting of the sea bed, slips blocking roads and rivers, cracks in infrastructure and bunting around many buildings is evidence of the damage done by the more recent and stronger earthquake (7.8) that was centered on Culverdene and Kaikoura. While the south coast and inland roads into the town have been reopened (we managed to travel on both roads), it is going to take a long time to get the roads back to what they were. It will be even longer before the coast train (if ever!) runs again.

We celebrated Susan's significant birthday eating locally caught Crayfish at the Pier Hotel. In fact local seafood is a feature of the area.

We had a fabulous selection of local seafood at Nin's Bin, a 'pop up' on the coastal road.

The Whale Watching Centre, owned and operated by a local Maori group, is continuing to offer a 'once in a lifetime experience' to visitors. We were fortunate to see a sperm whale surface, exhale/spout and then diving with the huge tail emerging from the sea.

Hanmer Springs

A pretty alpine town where it snows in winter. The weather was a bit wet, but that did not deter us from spending many hours in their range of hot thermal pools over 2 days.

Murchison

The alternative route north took us through this interesting old town. We bought crusty bread and pastries from the authentic French bakery, clothes from the quaint Hodgson & Co Store (dating from early 20th century) and a wholesome lunch from Riverside Cafe.

Te Mahia

After a long winding drive, with a lunch stop in Picton, we arrived at the homely Te Mahia resort overlooking the splendid Marlborough Sound. We took a boat trip around the Kenepuru Sound with 'salty' Pete who told us about the early history of the area and the local flora and fauna. We went for a walk along a short section of the Queen Charlotte walking track and in the evening, hired a boat 'taxi' to a delicious dinner at Raetahi on the opposite side of the sound - local mussels and local Ora King salmon. Our driver stopped the boat on the return journey so we could enjoy the glorious star filled night sky.

Hokitika

Another long and winding drive, in wet weather stopping for lunch again in Murchison, to Hokitika.

Hokitika is an old gold mining town featured in Eleanor Catton's novel The Luminaries.

The following day, we took a walk through the lush, fern filled Hokitika Gorge. Seafood in NZ is a must and when we found ‘Dulcies Takeaway’ we had to have some more. It was hard to choose from the variety of fish offered - blue cod, turbot, elephant fish and hoki, as well as paua (abalone) and wonderful crunchy sweet potato chips. We enjoyed a selection sitting on a bench overlooking the river/harbour.

Franz Josef Glacier

After stopping for our first taste of whitebait fritters at Whataroa, we arrived at the small township near the Glacier. Along with many other sightseers we did the 2 hour return walk over the rocky track to the lookout. We were rewarded with a glimpse of the ever retreating glacier in the distance.

On the way to Queenstown we stopped off at The Curly Tree located on the Waita River. A family owned company who harvest their own whitebait. Tony cooked us some delicious whitebait patties, he has now sold his business, so no more whitebait.

Queenstown

Another spectacular drive took us past tall craggy mountains, lush fern filled forests and huge lakes before arriving at the picturesque Queenstown. Our apartment looked out over the crystal clear Lake Wakatipu with a backdrop of the majestic mountains. We often saw the vintage steamboat SS Earnslaw chuffing its way down the lake. It seemed to be a Mecca for 'extreme sport' and while it was fun watching others bungee jumping or not (one young woman decided to opt out at the last moment), we decided to have an adrenaline rush on the Shotover. With 360 degree spins and close encounters with the rocky cliffs it was fun. We had the excellent Grape pickers' lunch at Gibbston Winery and a traditional Japanese meal that evening at Tanoshi. Being a tourist Mecca there are lots of great restaurants, cafes and bars (e.g. Madam Woo, Atlas Bar, The Winery, Bespoke Kitchen). We also tried and enjoyed the famous Fergburger. A trip up The Gondala to the top of a mountain gave us spectacular but misty views; then Peter and Bob tackled the downhill Luge.

On a walk around Queenstown Gardens we were intrigued by local people playing Disc Golf - players use Frisbee type discs to negotiate a course through trees and around rocks.

Doubtful Sound (Fiord)

Probably one of the highlights of the trip was an overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound. The journey starts in Manapouri, where we took a ferry ride across picturesque Lake Manapouri and finally a bus trip over Wilmot Pass to get on board the 'Navigator' at Deep Cove. Alan our bus driver was a mine of information on the flora and fauna, the geography, the building of the underground hydroelectric plant as well as Maori legends and history. We were very impressed by his passion and love for the area and people.

The pristine fiord is a place of peace and tranquillity - with Tolkien like images it is almost magical. At one stage the boat stops all engines for 10 minutes, people are asked to not use cameras and not talk for the "Sounds of Silence" - bird calls, even waterfalls can be clearly heard.

The weather was balmy and we were able to indulge in some kayaking in an arm of the Sound. Gaye and Bob went for an icy swim. We forgot to bring our bathers!

There were only 70 people on board and we met many overseas visitors. And the food was plentiful and excellent.

Next morning, the light shimmering on the wake and the glowing morning light on the surrounding hills was truly memorable.

On the way to Invercargill we stopped to look at the old Clifton Suspension bridge and lunch at the Last Light Cafe in Tuatapere - great service and food.

Invercargill

This quirky city at the bottom of NZ has beautiful old buildings, wide streets, lovely botanic gardens and friendly locals. Once a busy centre and port the town does look a bit tired and deserted. However it is improving helped by the zero fees Institute of Technology that has brought in more young people and the regrowth of the dairy industry. We also stayed in the delightful old fashioned Victoria Railway hotel run by Rose and Ian.

We didn't get to the 2 car museums, Transport World and Motorworks but I'm sure they would be interesting. One has over 300 vehicles. We saw some very old motorbikes in the Meccaspresso cafe.

We took a walk in the Queens Park and looked at plants and flora grown on islands in the Antarctic Circle. At The Rocks restaurant we had our first taste of Bluff Oysters - claimed to be some of the world's best oysters, and they were excellent.

We were so impressed, the next morning we drove through the fog to the Bluff, the little port where the oysters originate and had a dozen, freshly shucked, for 'breakfast'. Another quirky town which is the stepping off point to Stewart Island.

Dunedin

We took the pretty coastal route to Dunedin through the Catlins Forest, on the way we stopped at the 'Whistling Frog' and had a fabulous lunch.

Dunedin is one of those eminently liveable cities. With its Edwardian, Victorian architecture and elegant university it has created a fabulous atmosphere. We stayed in the old Congregational church converted into modern apartments. There are lots of great coffee shops (we liked The Dog With Two Tails); intriguing street art; quirky shops and several museums. The Octagon, at the centre of the city, is an 8 sided plaza overlooked by the imposing St Paul's cathedral and a statue of Robbie Burns. We visited the incredible Flemish renaissance style Railway Station and the excellent Toitu Otago Settlers Museum. While our meal at the Etrusco, located in the old Savoy building, was interrupted by an evacuation because of a fire alarm, its decor is ornate and beautiful.

The drive out along the peninsula is beautiful, we didn't go into The Albatross centre because a thick fog had come in but we did drive to Victoria beach and saw sea lions. Before leaving Dunedin, we walked up the 'steepest suburban street in the world'.

On the way to Oamaru we stopped to look at the strange huge round rocks called Moeraki Marbles.

And then at the nearby village of Moeraki we had an outstanding meal at Fleur's Place. Her self-built restaurant overlooks the small harbour and local fishing fleet. When Rick Stein visited NZ his main aim was to get to Fleurs. 78 year old Fleur walks around the restaurant talking to everyone, a real character dedicated to good fresh, locally sourced food, cooked simply. Potted eel, 5 different types of fish and a variety of steamed vegetables was delectable.

Oamaru

We stayed at Glendale B and B, once a grand mansion with beautifully decorated huge rooms, extensive gardens, a lake, chooks and sheep. Oamaru is similar to Port Adelaide with old wool stores but here they are put to use. We visited the unique Steam Punk Museum and the local Scott's brewery. We spent the evening waiting for penguins to arrive near the wharf – but they never arrived.

Mount Cook Aoraki

Site of NZ tallest mountain and another very picturesque area. We walked to a lookout Tasman Glacier and the next morning walked to the lookout at the base of Mount Cook.

We then drove back to Christchurch, completing a circuit of the South Island. We spent another few days to explore this area. A walk through the glorious Botanic Gardens and riding on the old vintage trams with an informative commentary. We drove out to Lyttlelton, a port town also affected badly by the earthquake. We had another great meal at the Coffee Company. On the drive to Sumner Beach and Taylor's Mistake we saw lots more evidence of earthquake damage to houses and buildings. Many people and businesses are still recovering.

And then it was onto a flight to the North Island via Auckland. We hired a car and drove to Kawa Kawa in bucketing rain (remnants of cyclone Debbie). It was great to visit my nephew and family and have an excellent lunch at Wharepuke restaurant where he is a chef.

The drive back to Auckland was a bit easier with no rain; we stayed the night at the Jetpark hotel and flew back to Adelaide, early the next morning.

There are many places we'd like to return to or discover : Queen Charlotte track or maybe the Abel Tasman track; more time in Dunedin; Stewart Island; Fleur's Place; Milford Sound; any hot water springs; Queenstown and Oamaru.

Thanks Gaye and Bob for planning the itinerary, booking accommodation and all that driving! All good!

Photos: New Zealand 2017

johnsteel — Sun, 30 Apr 2017 14:41:00 GMT

Photos: Take 6 Tasmania

johnsteel — Mon, 6 Feb 2017 17:45:00 GMT

Take 6 Tasmania

johnsteel — Mon, 6 Feb 2017 17:38:00 GMT

Tasmania Take 6

There were 3 goals for our recent trip to Tassie: to finish the walk at Hartz Mountain, to stay in the Henry Jones Art Hotel and do part of the 3 Capes Walk. We managed to do all three and as always had a few surprises and adventures on the way.

Hartz Mountain: we tried to do this walk in 2012 but the weather was too wild and had to be abandoned. We decided to stay around Huonville so we could also do other walks. We chose Huon Bush Retreats – set in a private nature reserve, it is carbon neutral which means 12 volt solar power, no TV or WIFI, wood fire, rainwater only, composting toilets

http://www.huonbushretreats.com/

Our cabin was set in a forest, beside a small stream and no one else around. And we managed fine without all those modern necessities. The zigzag track up Mount Misery went through rainforest, over streams, past unusual rocks, wildflowers, tall trees to the summit. The track is well maintained and signposted including information on the local indigenous people. The shorter Waterfall and Lightening Tree walk are also very good.

Hartz Mountain the walk is mainly on boardwalk over many streams through an alpine environment. The Tasmanian waratah was blooming, a stunning red flower surviving in fairly harsh conditions. It is a World Heritage area with stunning views over south west Tasmania; there are 2 tarns (small lakes), cushion plants, King Billy pines and a memorial to Arthur and Sidney Geeves who were lost in a snow storm in 1897. It is well worth doing.

Geeveston itself is a charming small town with several cafes and the Forest and Heritage Centre with history of the area.

As always food in Tasmania is excellent - we enjoyed some prize winning Pinot Noir and a great meal at Home Hill Winery in nearby Ranelagh. http://www.homehillwines.com.au/

As our drive back to Hobart took us through Cygnet we decided to return to the Red Velvet Lounge for breakfast, where Peter enjoyed a delicious brown rice porridge. Susan enjoyed local berry jam on a sourdough toast.

We also called in to Peppermint Bay for a delicious lunch, a beautiful spot overlooking D’Entrecasteaux Channel towards Bruny Island http://www.peppermintbay.com.au/bar-dining-terrace/

Henry Jones Art Hotel: Not enough superlatives for this beautifully restored jam factory in Hobart. It is a dedicated art hotel with over 500 pieces of art decorating the hallways, rooms and public areas. It is located on the waterfront dating from 1804, convict built as a warehouse then the IXL jam factory managed by Henry Jones. It had been neglected for many years until the architects Morris-Nunn and Associates restored the building in 2004. The building is a fusion of history, modernity, art and design. Much of the old building is retained, the rugged sandstone walls, open ceiling with its wooden beams and corrugated iron roof add character and atmosphere. The hotel also runs 2 tours – one through the hotel and the other focussing on the early history of Hobart. We learnt lots of things we never knew before, highly recommended. We really enjoyed our few days at the Henry Jones and damn the expense. http://www.thehenryjones.com/

Hobart has many excellent places to eat, we especially enjoyed Cultura http://www.culturahobart.com.au/ for excellent traditional Italian food;

Daci and Daci for great coffee, luscious cakes, great bread and a good breakfast. http://dacianddacibakers.com.au/ and Jackman and McRoss in Battery Point serves tasty food, tea and coffee as well as yummy cakes. https://www.facebook.com/Jackman-and-McRoss-139201119459938.

We also discovered a craft beer place Hobart Brewing Company in a red shed behind the Henry Jones hotel. Franklin Park is lively on Friday nights with lots of food vans and live music.

Battery Point is always great to walk around with its beautiful Georgian houses including the home of Andrew Inglis Clark, the main writer of the Australian Constitution.

3 Capes Walk and Tasman Peninsula It’s only a 90 minute drive to the peninsula which meant we could do the first walk to Cape Hauy on the same day. We started out in rain walking along the coast with spectacular views over the water, through beautiful forests with wildflowers before climbing higher, then up and down countless steps before arriving 2 hours later at the end of the cape. It was wonderful to see families with children walking the track too. It’s a tough walk but the views of the rugged dolerite cliffs including the Totem Pole and Candlestick with waves crashing below make it all worthwhile. The Totem Pole became famous when Paul Pritchard almost died while climbing it, take a look. http://www.abc.net.au/austory/content/2015/s4418718.htm

There aren’t a lot places to eat in Tasman Peninsula however we did find the DOO-Lishus food van in Doo Town. https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Restaurant_Review-g504294-d2309775-Reviews-DOO_Lishus-Eaglehawk_Neck_Tasmania.html . They cater for tourists but the food is delicious - we had fish and chips, prawn rolls, oysters and fresh berries with youghurt.

Waterfall Bay walk, an easy 1 hour walk with more fabulous views of the wild coast including the Devil’s Kitchen and Tasman’s Arch http://tasmania.com/itineraries/tasmania-short-walk-itineraries/waterfall-bay-walk-tasman-peninsula/

The Tasman Peninsula is a beautiful area to explore, we did a loop drive around the peninsula – and found Remarkable Cave, only a short walk via steps and more views of the coast and crashing waves. http://www.touringtasmania.info/remarkable_cave.htm Watch the updraught on the way, a man lost his favourite hat when it blew into a tree. Someone else retrieved the hat by throwing stones at it.

Nubeena is the only town with shops, an IGA and hotel. Nearby White Beach looks back towards Bruny Island.

We also visited the Coal Mines Historic Site, not as well-known as Port Arthur, but much less busy and certainly worth a look. Very pleasant to walk around and being thankful we weren’t convicts! It was a convict mining site with old buildings and cells, again overlooking a beautiful bay. http://coalmines.org.au/

What will we do for our 7^th trip to Tassie?

Escaping winter to Yamba and Byron Bay

johnsteel — Sun, 15 Jan 2017 17:16:00 GMT

Escaping winter in Yamba and Byron Bay - August, 2016
We loved Yamba – great beaches, food and lots to explore. We stayed at Clubyamba https://www.hotelscombined.com.au/Hotel/Clubyamba_Luxury_Holiday_Villas.htm, easy walk to town and excellent facilities. Where to eat - Beechwood Café of course (thanks Gaye and Bob) run by the wonderful Sevtap, it has Turkish inspired food, sourced locally and very tasty. http://www.beachwoodcafe.com.au/index.html
Lots of cafes to choose from, we also enjoyed Craig and Irons for breakfast and coffee, the Backpackers for coffee and the Yamba Hotel for good pub food overlooking the beach. The town fish shop and coop have local seafood (prawns and Balmain bugs)
Visit the local museum and find out that the first board riding happened in Yamba, not Bondi.
Take the ferry for a scenic trip to Iluka, feel like you’re in the 50’s – visit the tiny local museum, walk along the waterfront to the rather rundown looking Sedger's Reef Hotel for excellent fish and chips; take a walk through the rainforest and walk back to the ferry for the trip home.
Drive to Angourie for more beaches, apparently the best surfing and board riding area; and the beautiful coast walk.
On to Byron Bay where we stayed at Julian’s Apartments – a 10 minute walk into town and just below the lighthouse, a good spot. You can also walk along the path to Watego Beach and up to the Lighthouse. Again lots of restaurants and cafes – we enjoyed The Balcony Bar for dinner (½ price oysters before 6pm), The Rails for live music and good food; Top Café for breakfast (sardines were mouth-watering); Bayleaf for excellent breakfast and coffee; The Farm (just out of town) for a tasty breakfast and other food delights.
Visit Mullumbimby for hippy life; Bangalow for interesting shops and cafes and Zakay gallery for glass sculpture; Brunswick Heads for more fabulous beaches and eat at the art deco Brunswick Hotel (check out the toilets).
Getting there – fly to the Gold Coast and hire a car – 30 mins to Byron and about 2 hours to Yamba.

Victoria- Grampians, Ancestors and Spas

johnsteel — Sun, 15 Jan 2017 16:09:00 GMT

April, 2016
This trip had 3 goals to have a meal at the highly rated Dunkeld Royal Hotel restaurant; visit old gold mining towns and Ballarat where Susan’s Steel family began; return to Daylesford and have a spa. 1. Dunkeld is a small village at the southern end of the Grampians. One of the first buildings you see is the art deco Royal Mail Hotel. http://www.royalmail.com.au/# The 5 course tasting menu was excellent – highlights were the octopus garden, egg yolk entrée and the chocolates hidden in the pot plant on the table. The majority of the ingredients are sourced locally. Included in the stay at the hotel is a tour of their kitchen garden – we managed to get some of their tomatoes and chillies so we could use the seeds for our garden.
We did a few walks – Piccaninnie Walk and Mt Sturgeon. Stayed at Southern Grampian Cottages – excellent.
2. Ancestor Trail – We travelled through Pitfield, Cape Clear, Springdallah and Scarsdale looking for signs of the Steel family. Many of the children were born in these towns in 1860/70s. Now just open fields, no signs of the large gold mine towns of the period.
In Ballarat we walked the streets where Ruth Elizabeth lived and taught, tried to imagine her life there. We spent 4 hours at Sovereign Hill, a reconstruction of a gold mining town. Much better than we imagined. Shops, Chinatown, apothecary, workshops and 4 types of school gave us an insight to life in that time. Local school children attend the schools for a week, in costume of the period, and find out what school was like for children of that time. Peter panned for gold without success. The Gold Museum, Museum of Democracy and Eureka are worth a visit. The Ballarat Art Gallery is small but has great art. And a good café.
We ate well at Forge Pizza and Meigas Tapas, L’Espresso Café and Hop Temple Craft Beer.
Take a walk around Lake Wendouree and the Botanic Gardens. Ballarat is a beautiful old town with magnificent buildings of the time eg Craig’s hotel. We enjoyed our time there.
3. On the way to Daylsford we called in to the Woollen mills in Creswick where we bought some lovely woollen products. Daylesford has lots to offer, quirky shops (see Sister George for homemade hats); the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens, Convent Gallery for lots of art, history and good café; walk around Lake Daylesford (check in at the Book Barn for 1000s of books and coffee); taste mineral water at the numerous local springs. There are many restaurants but we did enjoy Liena’s Kitchen for homemade dumplings; Bocconcini for breakfast and coffee. Visit Passing Clouds Winery for prize winning wine and tasty food (bit expensive though). But most of all have a 2 hour spa at Hepburn Springs Bath House. Going in the morning is best, we were the only people for most of the time. We’ll be back.

Photos: Mollymook Wedding and Newtown Fun

johnsteel — Sun, 8 Jan 2017 13:13:00 GMT

Mollymook wedding and Newtown Fun

johnsteel — Sun, 8 Jan 2017 12:59:00 GMT

In March, 2016 we flew off to Mollymook for Briony and Mike's wedding. It was a chance also to eat at Rick Stein's seafood restaurant, Bannisters. While pregnant Ange had to forgo the shellfish the rest of us enjoyed oysters, prawns and fish.

The wedding was held on the lawns in front of Bannisters and overlooking the ocean. All beautiful and fun. The reception was at Cuppits Winery, good food and more fun.

Swimming at Narrewallee was great and a pop up coffee van had excellent coffee.

Then off to Newtown staying at the fabulous Tara Guesthouse. Beautiful decor and an extensive breakfast prepared by owners Brom and Julian and shared with other guests.

Enmore Road and King Street are there to explore for hours - all types of shops, craft beer, book shops, especially the famous Goulds, restaurants, gelato. All enhanced by the fabulous street art.

Recommended are Osterio Russo for the best Italian food, Stambouli for Turkish, Young Henrys for the craft beer, Cow and Moon for gelato and Great Aunty 3 for home style Vietnamese.

Photos: Wow Experiences

johnsteel — Sat, 27 Jun 2015 22:14:00 GMT

England, Dubai, Paris, Umbria and Turkey

Wow Experiences

johnsteel — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 14:05:00 GMT

Dubai

With some of the world's tallest and flashiest buildings you feel like you're in a science fiction movie. The silver needle like Burj Khalifa soars 850m into the clouds. At over $150 each for a tour we decided to stand back and look at it.
Staying in the Arabian Courtyard Hotel in the old town gave us a better sense of being a local. We noticed lots of Indian people and found out that they are 80% of the population.
Dubai Museum was over the road so we ducked in for a quick tour - it gave a good sense of early Dubai.
The 30 cent journey on the small flat bottomed ferry boat across the 'creek' to the Spice Souk. The huge array of colourful and heady perfume of the spices such as frankincense, myrrh. We succumbed and bought vanilla sticks to take home and gourmet dates to munch on.
The ride on the city sightseeing bus, took us to the more touristy areas including the beach area, the Palm islands, Atlantis Hotel ending up at the Dubai Mall.
This shopping centre aims to fulfill even the most wealthy and their consumer desires. The Mall had a huge indoor aquarium, a waterfall and hundreds of specialty shops. We decided to have lunch at Paul's Boulangerie, a French inspired restaurant with great food.
Next? The desert of course. A 4 wheel drive, up, over and down huge desert sand dunes, spinning out - a heart in your mouth, Dakar rally experience. We then arrived at an oasis in the desert. Lots of food - BBQ meat, salads and loukemedes dessert. After a dazzling performance of belly dancing, we arrived back at the hotel at 10.30pm.

London Surprises

A family connection to William Blake encouraged us to do a guided walk through the back streets of London. Not only did we see places connected with William but also where Jimmy Hendrix lived - next door to where Handel lived; Savoy Hills Lane where Bob Dylan made a music video "Subterranean Homesick Blues" in 1967. William was a fighter for truth, human rights as well as a poet and artist, an outstanding person.
The village atmosphere of Marylebone - pubs, exclusive shops and great cafes.
Feeling homesick after hearing magpies singing and the Australian bush at the excellent Australian Indigenous Exhibition at The British Museum.
Meandering around the West Highgate Cemetery on the guided walk.
Pubs are compulsory and sampling beer especially Guinness on tap helped us on our way.
Another guided walk with Paul and Eva which gave Susan an insight to her great great aunt Ruth Elizabeth Steel who ran girls' schools around London and a boarding house in Bloomsbury.
Discovering the Riblat Gallery in the British Library - famous authors' notebooks/folios - (Shakespeare, Bronte, Dickens, Austen, Hardy); musicians' manuscripts - Mozart, Bach, Beatles; ancient maps; sacred texts; da Vinci notebook, Magna Carta. Real treasures.

Cotswolds

Ducks on ponds, thatched roofs, English breakfasts, rambling walks through green fields and quaint villages, beer and pubs; Broadway Tower (visited by William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti)

Norfolk

Seaside town of Blakeney with its delightful small cottages all nestled together (including the smallest cottage in England); the vast expanse of marshes; colourful candy striped shacks on the beach in Wells next the Sea.
Tracking down sacred sites for the Stanley ( Susan's family) ancestors in Norwich - drinking fountain built 1850's and ancient gate to the city.

Turkey - Istanbul and Dalyan

The many crossings of the Galata Bridge with the fishermen trying their luck; the glittering blue of the Bosphorus; the sheer beauty and serenity of the Blue Mosque; the awe inspiring Aga Sophia; exquisite and mesmerizing Islamic art; heady aromas of the spice market; Turkish coffee; the richness and exuberance of the Topkapi Palace.
An evening stroll along the jubilant Istiklal Boulevard to Taksim Square with Turkish ice cream and and a ride on the nostalgic tram.
The call to prayer which awoke us each morning and then throughout the day continued to centre us and keep us mindful.
Being watched over by the Lycian Tombs of Dalyan - ever present, ever knowing.
The incredible fresh, cheap, local food available in the many markets. And the many restaurants which used this wonderful produce to provide scrumptious meals.
The dedicated young English volunteer at Captain June's Turtle Sanctuary.
Trying not to buy everything at the Koycgzis Market - fruit and vegetables straight from the farm sold by the hard working farmers; the women in their colourful scarves and flowery skirts.
Driving into the mountains to arrive at Yesil Vadi restaurant set near a fast flowing, icy cold, crystal clear stream and eating the freshest tastiest trout you'll ever eat. Thanks Susan Taylor!
Our final night on the patio of the Sunset Special House overlooking the Aegean Sea and blue tinged distant islands; the luminous sky changing colour as the sun slowly set. Magical. Matched by home cooked food and then a performance by 3 Irish musicians. A memorable evening. And then as we left the owner gave Susan Taylor a handful of eggs from his hens.
It was a rainy day when we decided to try the local mud baths and hot thermal springs. As we sank into the gluey mud we wondered what lay beneath as our feet found stones and other hard objects - what were they? Fortunately the thermal springs were warm and comforting. Our skin did feel good afterwards, maybe it was all worthwhile. The large bowl of fresh orange juice also helped.
The Turkish Bath - being exfoliated, pummelled and then drenched by many basins of hot water by our burly Turkish masseurs was invigorating but maybe once is enough.
Just lazing around in our Villa Ruby in Dalyan.
Exploring the ancient alleyways of the old medieval walled town on Rhodes including the Street of Knights, Jewish Quarter and Synagogue; Muslim Library.
The tomato festival in Ortaca where we didn't see one tomato but did have fun looking at the market which included clothing, bed linen, toys, towels, food and lots more. In the middle of shopping the national anthem played and everyone stood very still, a group of teenagers started singing the anthem - we were quite impressed.

Paris

The first impression on entering the Petit Palais is the sense of space and light. Thanks to Betty Churcher we made sure we went to this gallery, especially to see Girls on the Seine and The Sleepers.
Being overwhelmed by the Van Gogh paintings in Musee D'Orsay - including a self portrait, Bedroom in Arles, portrait of Dr Gachet. His paintings impact physically and emotionally.
The Louis Rooms in the Louvre - gold, chandeliers, sheer opulence; Winged Victory still stands at the top of a flight of stairs; huge dramatic paintings of Delacroix. Annoying people with selfie sticks.
Branly Museum which features art and culture of indigenous people of the world. The Australian section was small but impressive. Many visitors were drawn to the more modern art work including Lena Nyadbi whose beautiful piece decorates the roof of the museum positioned to be seen from the Eiffel
While walking along Boulevard St Michele we came upon a footpath market which included small booths selling cheeses, pastries, jewellery, clothes, shoes and after trying some French nougat we just had to buy some.
After looking through the Albert Khan Museum we spent about an hour exploring his vast garden. It had a Japanese section, huge ponds, a stream, small bridges, hills and French school children running along the paths having a ball.

Umbria

For 8 days we pretended we were Italian aristocrats living in our beautiful 18th century palazzo Villa LeMura. With 7 bedrooms on one level and many more in the tower we could have had all our families and friends staying here. With plenty of fresh air we could swim in the pool or explore the four acres of gardens, parks and olive groves. We often lost each other in the many sitting rooms. Each morning we gazed at the decorated ceiling of our bedroom, as the sun entered the room different parts would light up demanding our attention. Although it had 3 kitchens we mainly used the yellow 'outside kitchen' and ate outside on the patio overlooking the garden. And one night we were all entranced by a display of fireflies flittering through the garden.
Our beautiful hilltop town Panicale was a 20 minute ascent. From our first entry through the ancient gate (Porta Fiorentina, used when arriving from Florence, and Porta Perugina used when arriving from Perugia) we felt part of the community. We were always warmly welcomed to the bars, restaurants, grocery shops. Although little Italian or English was spoken the women in the 3 main grocers were generous in their samples of local cheese and cured meats. How could we resist buying anything? We were puzzled by the salt less bread but after some research found out that bread from these regions is traditionally made without salt. ( google it and find out).
The hilltop towns we visited were all slightly different. Spello (with its winding streets and floral displays); Bevagna (a Middle Ages town with Knights); Montefalco and lunch at Corrocone; Montecchiello and lunch on the patio overlooking the rolling hills of Tuscany; Montepulciano with fabulous leather shops and more breathtaking views. Check out this site for more information. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/italy/9446311/Umbrias-medieval-hill-towns-Spello-Montefalco-and-Bevagna.html
The walk to Paciano guided by Joel took us along the ridge, down sun dappled, tree lined tracks and then through someone's backyard. Fortunately no one was home as we had to climb over the high spiked fence to get back to the road. It must have been siesta time because when we entered the town of Paciano we didn't see one single person. Fortunately we found our way to the recommended restaurant for some great pizza.
Sitting on the patio of Il Casale restaurant, watching the sunset (again) and eating food sourced from the surrounding area http://www.ristoranteilcasale.it/eng/index.html. It seems we had many magic moments eating incredible food while watching the sun set over a dramatic scene.

Thanks to Joel and Angela for encouraging us to go with the flow.

Photos: Wow Food

johnsteel — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 18:36:00 GMT

Wow Food

johnsteel — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 12:03:00 GMT

About once or twice a year, we exclaim 'wow' when consuming food at a restaurant. On this trip, we were saying 'wow' almost every day.

The WOW highlights:

Often the setting added greatly to the experience. We did try to keep it short - too hard.

Dubai –This is where it started - The bread basket as part of our lunch - Paul's Boulangerie , Dubai Mall (It is hard to find bread like this in Adelaide)

Turkey

Fish sandwich - simple, cheap and very tasty - under Galata Bridge, Istanbul

Turkish breakfast - 6 types of olives, 3 types of cheese, cured meats, boiled egg, salad, bread and jam

Freshly squeezed pomegranate juice

Turkish Delight from the Spice Bazaar, Istanbul

Slow cooked lamb, Kiva, near Galata Tower Istanbul

Dessert at Gunlukluk, Dalyan - set among trees near a fast flowing canal - The dessert was Kunefe - This sweet and savory Levantine cheese pastry is hard to avoid in Turkey; you can smell the street vendors frying it up from blocks away. Kunefe is made from a stretchy, unsalted fresh melting cheese called hatay found only in this region. The cheese is coated in sugar syrup-soaked phyllo shreds called kadayıf (the same ones used to make some varieties of baklava, as described above), and fried until crisp. Its appeal is the contrasting textures of the crunchy exterior against the soft, melty interior. It can be topped with pistachios, kaymak (clotted cream) or ice cream—or simply eaten on its own, preferably while still piping hot.

Trout lunch at Yesil Vadi this mountain restaurant is situated near a fast moving mountain spring. The water is the clearest we've ever seen. Magical, the water splashes down over small weirs. Seating is on wooden platforms over the water. We had salad, sweet potato chips, followed by a freshly caught whole trout. So delicious.

Hunkar Begendi (Sultan's Delight), a lamb stew served on a bed of creamy puréed eggplant at Remzi's Dalyan

Stew called Testi cooked in terracotta pots which are broken open in front of us, very dramatic.

Savoury and sweet Pancakes, on the other side of the river, Dalyan

Sunset Special House overlooking Aegean sea and distant islands. A garden restaurant in owner's front yard. Food was fabulous, succulent grilled chicken, carrot salad, Hacapuri (cheese pie), pepper Meatballs. Plus impromptu music from Irish trio, Life O'Riley.

Seafood platter for lunch, Mama Miki, Rhodes Island, (scampi, whitebait, mussels, octopus, calamari and salad)

London

Porridge with stewed fruit, soft boiled egg, bowl of coffee for breakfast, Le Pain Quotidien

10 Greek Street, Soho - Hake with crab stuffed zucchini flowers, lamb with veges

Tapas-like serves at Gail's Kitchen, Ortiz sardines and tomato aioli, squid and chickpeas with Persian lemon stew, Sticky chicken, porchetta with broad beans and anchovy cream.

Cotswolds, UK

Whitebait, Two Brewers, pub in Marlow

Hand and Flowers 2 star Michelin Pub - Smoked haddock omelet, Crispy Pig's Head warm pie, slow cooked duck breast with peas, duck fat chips, and herb baked Scottish halibut with crab Hollandaise sauce, toasted cucumber and garden salad. Dessert - bitter orange soufflé with sweet toasted orange cardamom and ice cream.

12 hour braised brisket with root vegetables, mash and greens, Salthouse Dun Cow, N Norfolk

Entree of smoked haddock on toast, grilled whiting, pork chop at Wheatsheaf Pub in Northleech

Paris

Street market French Nougat - 10 different types.

Chez Jaafer- Tunisian restaurant, great home cooked food. Their home made Harissa is The best. Chicken and lamb with figs - Tagines are full of flavour while the couscous is light and nourishing

Le Comptoir 5 course set menu.Started with Parmesan gougere, savoury biscuit, curry bread (crunchy and delicious), crab dish, octopus dish, duck, round of cheese with chilli jelly, berry conserve or honey - decadent and delicious, dessert of strawberries, meringue, sorbet.

Berthillion ice cream - Rue Saint Louis en l'ile Paris- it was worth queuing for half an hour for this creamy, mouth watering ice cream.

Umbria (Italy)

We were impressed with the fresh local food, in season available in the local delis and restaurants. Many restaurants included how many kilometres their food had travelled, 0 in most cases.

2 visits to Il Gallo nel Pozzo, a delightful restaurant in the piazza of the beautiful hilltop town of Panicale. We ate here twice and on both occasions the food was delicious and the service friendly and helpful. The food has a Sicilian influence from Chef Lorena. Simone, front of house offers great suggestions and excellent service. We felt part of the family, which also includes Aldo who runs the Bar Gallo just across the square.

Dinner at Il Casale, just out of Pancione. Another private house in the hills overlooking the plain and lake.

Antipasti of salamis, prosciutto, truffle cheese; secondi of pastas (bean gnocchi with asparagus and small shrimp; tomato and bacon, ravioli with spinach and sage); main wild boar. Lovely setting with sunset, sitting on the patio with young couples and large families and children running around.

Pizza with Thin layered base - simple and tasty topping at L'Oca Bruciata (The Burnt Goose) in Paciano. The owner even drove Joel back to Panicale to collect the car.

Lazy lunch at Coccorone, in Montefalco - Ancovies on toast, prosciutto with buffalo mozzarella, 2 pastas, melt in the mouth rabbit, 3 people shared a huge steak cooked on open fire. And washed down with a Montefalco wine.

A lunch at La Porta restaurant in Monticchiello - on a hot sunny day we sat on the balcony at La Porta restaurant and ate an antipasto of cold meats which included a brawn and melted sheep cheese with shaved truffles. Risotta with smoked goose and pici pasta with duck ragu.

The 3 local delis in Panicale were stocked with local cured meats, cheeses and the local unsalted bread. They were extremely generous in providing tastings from their extensive larder. The porchetta from the local butcher was incredible.

Photos: Using Google Maps

johnsteel — Tue, 9 Jun 2015 16:50:00 GMT

Travel Tip - using Google maps

johnsteel — Tue, 9 Jun 2015 16:48:00 GMT

Travel tip
You can use Google maps even when you are out of a wi-fi zone.
Many of our digitally savvy friends probably know this, but we have found this invaluable while travelling.
How does it work?
You need a device that has 'Google Maps' app installed, access to wi-fi (at the start) and your 'location services' switched on.
If you are in an unfamiliar place, and you want to go somewhere eg for breakfast, to a laundromat or even to the closest petrol station (if you are in a car), then this is a very useful tool.
The very first thing to do, while you have access to Wi-fi (in your hotel, restaurant) plot your route in google maps. This is important and do this while in wi-fi zone. Here is my walking route to breakfast at 'Le Pain Quotidien'

Now this is where it becomes useful - even when you move out of the WiFi zone, your movements are tracked. Google uses GPS and if you check your device, a blue dot appears on the map where you are currently located.

If you stray off track, you can check where you are on your device and then correct your track.
Image
We had a splendid breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien.

Photos: Take Five Tasmania

johnsteel — Sat, 3 Jan 2015 15:49:00 GMT

Corinna, Pieman River, Tarkine

Take Five Tasmania - Corinna, Tarkine

johnsteel — Sat, 3 Jan 2015 15:44:00 GMT

This is our fifth visit to beautiful Tasmania.

This time we focussed on the wild NW corner - Corinna and the Tarkine.

Friday 19 Dec

Fiona's B & B, Launceston Tasmania

St John Craft Beer - Moo beer, great little place on St John St.

Dinner at O'Keefes Pub

Saturday 20 Dec

Fiona's still good, nice breakfast, friendly.

Launceston Markets great, bread, garlic salt, marmalade, apples, haloumi, feta, carrots, zucchini, coffee.

Drive along Meander Valley Road to Fair View B & B on farm, self contained cottage, comfortable. Drive into Deloraine.

Drive to Liffey Falls, winding road down. 45 min return walk to view falls from various points. Lovely, huge ferns, green, sun filtering through.

Couldn’t find Bob Brown's old place at Liffey.

Dinner at Deloraine Deli - shared entree of smoked salmon with cucumber, greens and poppy seed dressing, yum.

Peter had Spanish pork with mango salsa, labna, rice

Susan had prawn linguine, with small green and radish salad - very

good.

Shared dessert deconstructed chocolate and stout ice cream

Wine Woodhill Pinot noir and Pinot Grigio.

Walk around town, quaint

Sunday 21 Dec

Met Ali and Tony in Deloraine for coffee

Went to Donna's and Justin's place in Deloraine. We took Alison, Tony and Donna to Wychwood, just past Mole Creek. Beautiful gardens established by a couple about 25 years ago, when they were in their mid 20's. Lots of wild roses, deciduous trees. Small creek, picnic house, small cabin with bed, chooks, fruit trees. Quite beautiful. Dropped them off. Returned for dinner. Donna made yummy lentil dish, with pumpkin, beetroot. Wine: White Pinot Grigio ( Storm?); Gurwitztraminer from Orange; Wee Jasper Shiraz. Strawberries and raspberries for dessert. Lots of talking, great evening. Justin gave us some fresh pasta he'd just made plus some tomato sauce. They used to have a pasta business in Canberra.

Back to BnB about 10.

Monday 22 Dec

Left Deloraine about 9.30

Called in to ‘41 Degrees’ for wood smoked salmon tasting. Bought some as well as rillettes, gin sing honey, spice and chocs.

Winding drive through beautiful countryside, past Cradle Mountain, through Waratah, drive on gravel silica road. Big mining operation at Savage River.

Arrived Corinna about 2.15. Situated on Pieman River, pub with restaurant, about 20 cabins. Parts of old gold mining town left. Our cabin basic but comfortable. No TV, wifi, mobile phone coverage. Gas heating.

Did Whyte River walk 1.5 hour walk, through rainforest, along river.

Had cauliflower soup at restaurant- good. Did 15 min Huon Pine walk.

Justin's pasta with their tomato sauce for dinner.

Tuesday 23 Dec

10.15 river cruise Pieman River on Arcadia 2, Tony the skipper and Liz the assistant ( ex policewoman, retired). About 20 people on board.

Thick dark forest of many green colours, magical, misty, timeless. 2 hours to mouth of river, pouring rain, we all wear Telly Tubby brightly coloured jackets. 900 metres walk in rain to beach. Wild and windy, beach covered in lots of driftwood. Lunch on board, saw sea eagle on return. Back by 2.15. Hot showers and relax, sleep. Happy hour with Seike and Rinehardt. Dinner in restaurant , Cape Grim steak and salmon, good.

Wednesday 24 Dec

Susan got up at 5.50 to look at misty river

Breakfast about 6.30

Hired kayaks and set out 8.30 along Pieman River. Peaceful, calm, reflections, many bird calls, primeval. Sun shining, no wind

Took about 1 hour to Savage River inlet, went bit beyond landing dock to check out old sunken boat, SS Croyden. (Was fully laden with Huon Pine. Sank in 1919

Secured kayak, changed shoes and set off on return walk. Rainforest, sun filtering through, lots ferns, greenery, magical. Up many steps to top of ridge. Descent to river edge and back by 12.10.

Rest, coffee at hotel. Telegraph Hill walk, 40 min return to top of hill and down. Telegraph pole at top.

Beautiful sunny day, blue skies.

BBQ for dinner with mushrooms, tomato and rest of pasta with sauce plus whole bottle of 9th Island Pinot Grigio wine.

Thursday Christmas Day

Part walk along Whyte River track. Huon Pine track.

Christmas Lunch - champagne and canapés, lots of oysters from Smithton; buffet lunch - salmon, gravlax, ham, beef, roast pork, salads

Dessert - Christmas pudding, pavlova and strawberries. All very good. Sat with Kylie (doctor) and John (dentist) Pyrmont; Penny and David ( live between Hobart and Queensland); Cheryl and Carl ( Cygnet).

Friday ‘ Boxing Day’

9am kayak down Pieman to Whyte River. Weather cloudy but fine. Again, peaceful, wild. Whyte River narrow with many submerged logs, fun to navigate through. Went down about .5 km. Back about 11am. No platypus seen. Others heading out in kayaks.

Drive along Western Explorer Rd to do Mt Donaldson walk. Pleasant walk up hill through forest. Tiger (Thylacine) country, as tigers used to be in the area.

Dinner in hotel, salmon.

Saturday

Paid bill, left Corinna about 9.40. Took Western Explore Road, gravel road 78 km north through the Tarkine, mainly fine, last few kms more rocky. Landscape varies from open grassland to rainforest. Saw 2 cyclists, 5 cars. Went into Nelson Bay, drove through Arthur River. Smithton, mainly farming business centre. Arrived Stanley about 1.30. Had lunch at Touchwood, Peter has seafood chowder, Susan scallops.

Settled in at The Base accommodation, overlooking bay. Took walk to seafront, fishing boats etc. dinner at Stanley Pub, Peter had Braised beef cheeks and vegies, Susan chicken and Camembert pie, good. 7 sheds beer (from Devenport). Walked part way up Nut path

Sunday 28 Dec

Walked up Nut, 3 families with 7 kids also walking up. Peter handled it very well, Susan ok but breathless at times. Did 2 km rim walk. Lovely day. Drove to Highfield House, beautifully restored, several families lived there. Lunch at Swinging Cafe, scallop pies. Explored shops, Angel's Share, whisky tasting. Tried Cradle Mountain whisky $180 a bottle. Bought 3 sample small bottles of Hellyer whisky.

Coffee at Brown Dog cafe and homewares shop. Cow and Calf gallery, photography by David Murphy, quite good. Dinner at Stanley Hotel again, Peter, Cape Grim steak, Susan vegetarian tart. 7 Sheds beer. Walk through town and along beach.

Monday 29 Dec

Breakfast at Moby Dick's - Peter had eggs, bacon, tomato; Susan - eggs Florentine. Left Stanley about 10. Good drive to Penguin, coffee and almond Croissant. Drove through Deloraine, arrived Launceston about 1.30. Fiona's. Checked ‘Allgoods’, other shops. Got tickets for New Year event. More beer (4) at St John Craft Beer. Dinner at Sebel, Susan had salmon, P had lamb steak.

Tuesday 30 Dec

Drove to Joseph Chromy winery. Large estate and garden. Too busy, drove to Evandale, lunch and coffee at Bakery. Returned car, refund as we were early. More beer.

Dinner at Food Hall, Pad Thai, basic.

Wednesday

Design Centre, walk through park, along Esk River.

6.30 New Year's event in Royal Park on river. Family groups, lots of alcohol stalls, few food. Got salt and pepper squid, Pinot noir, salmon bagel, more Pinot. Watched families. Watched fireworks at 9.30. Walked back.

Thursday

Walked to Cataract Gorge to end, saw 3 seals.

Left Launceston 1.15

Arrived Adelaide 5.30, Joel and Angela picked us up in their new jeep.